Infatuated
by Diana-Jae
Summary: Being best friends makes emotions dealing in affection less clear especially when they're emotions of affection regarding each other. A Robin x Starfire fic - AU. [Chapter 4 Uploaded]
1. Midnight Snack

Infatuated 

**[Chapter 1: Midnight Snack]**

By: Diana-Jae 

Robin casually turned the corner of the corridor towards the door to his shared apartment. Friday night had whizzed past him, not that it bothered him. His first date with Kitten had turned out pretty well, and there would surely be no doubt about dates in the future. His only predicament now was to make sure that he could enter the five-bedroom apartment without making a noise because it was now early Saturday morning, and he did not dare to wake his friends for fear that bodily harm would come to him.

The five sixteen-year-olds' weekday schedule was hectic enough as it was with school and work without having to save the city at a moment's notice. They all had to pay the bill for their room somehow so they considered their weekends quite holy, and even more so if they didn't need have to put enemies in check.

So Robin quietly inserted the key into the keyhole and opened the door carefully, expecting everyone to be sleeping soundly. But to his surprise, he found a small amount of light emitting from the kitchen, probably from the television set and walked towards it. Fridays were usually mellowed out because it was considered the end of the week from hell, and Friday nights were, frequently, especially quiet because if there were to be any sort of late-night fests that took place in the apartment, it would happen on a Saturday night. And this just happened to be one of those _supposed-to-be_ quiet nights meaning his roommates were all too burned out to do anything but sleep until mid-morning.

Popping his head into the kitchen, he saw Starfire's small frame sitting on a stool in front of the counter with her back towards him. She was facing the television, which was on mute, and was greedily spooning herself from a pint of chocolate swirl ice cream.

"You mind if I have a seat?" Robin asked quietly from behind her.

Starfire nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the voice, but when her bottle-green eyes met those of cerulean, she just sighed and patted the stool next to her. Robin took the offered seat and looked at the television screen. She was watching a late run of _Looney Tunes_ and would giggle a little to herself now and then.

Robin watched her and raised a brow. "How do you know when to laugh when you can't hear anything?"

Starfire shoved another spoonful of the creamy snack into her mouth and looked at him from the side of her eyes. "You do not need to hear anything," she pointed out matter-of-factly. "The pictures are already hilarious." She looked at the screen and another small laughter escaped her lips when Wile E. Coyote fell off a cliff and got hit by the very anvil he used to catch the Roadrunner with.

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he watched her child-like demeanor. Contrary to what most people would believe his relationship with Raven and Cyborg and Beast-Boy to be, who he had known the longest by far, he actually felt more at ease when he was around the maroon-haired girl, whom he had only come to know since the fall of last year. He was the first one to make any attempt to make her feel, more or less, at home and teach her of Earth's many strange customs. In the beginning, it was questions that usually poured from her mouth, but as of late, she had come to him just to have a conversation rather than to ask about something she didn't understand. If she hadn't learned it from a book or a movie or from asking Robin and the other Titans, she learned it through first-hand experience, but the girl still liked to be in his company and talk with him, sometimes entering his room when he was in the middle of doing homework and would just sit on his bed until he was finished wherein she would attack him with small talk or ask him to accompany her somewhere. He used to think that she clung on to him as a sort of security blanket from her unfamiliarity of his world, but he later realized that there was just a greater bond of friendship between them. How else was he to explain why there were things that he couldn't tell the others but found easy to reveal to her?

"So why are you up so late?" he asked, resting his head lazily on the arm he had propped up on the table.

"I could not sleep," she shrugged. "I think it is because of this heat-wave we are having. It _is_ called a heat-wave, is it not?"

He chuckled and nodded. 

And sure enough, it was hot. The week had been hell, literally, which suddenly explained why the Tamaranian beauty was eating ice cream and was wearing a purple tank top and shorts instead of her typical pink pajamas.

"Today was totally boring, and I think it carried up until now," she sighed. "They cancelled today's shoot, and I was kind of broke to go and do anything. I do not get paid until tomorrow." Then she dropped her spoon into her pint and counted off on her fingers. "And Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg all had work today, and you…" she paused to think and then brightened up, "…hey, how was your date with Kitten?" she suddenly asked out of pure means for a conversation instead of complaining about a day where she lay upside down on the couch.

"It was fun," he replied, smiling at her enthusiasm. "I'm seeing her again on Sunday."

"That is good to hear." She looked at him with an impish smile and added, "So are you guys an item now?"

Robin laughed nervously. "I'm not really sure if we're there yet, Star. We're still in the _just-talking-and-getting-to-know-each-other_ phase of this dating thing."

She laughed. "How did you ever start talking to her in the first place? She does not even have any classes with you."

Robin looked away, his face unmistakably tinged with pink. "She was walking by to talk to the coach during practice after school on Thursday, and the ball that was supposed to go in the hoop bounced off the rim and hit her."

"Your shot?"

"Yeah…" He smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, that is terrible," Starfire said trying to stifle a giggle. "Was she okay?"

"I would think so. I mean, she wasn't seeing stars or anything."

Starfire hopped off the stool, putting her pint back into the freezer and went to the sink to wash her spoon. "Well, I do not know about that. She might have lost her mind a little. After all, she _is_ dating you."

"Ha-ha. Very funny." Robin took the hand towel by the sink just within reach and playfully threw it at her, who just giggled and stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'm just joking, Robin," she said, wiping her hands on the towel and putting it back. "She is very lucky to be going out with you." She walked by and patted him on the head before skipping off to her room. "Good night."

"Night."

**

**Author Notes: **I've actually been meaning to write a Teen Titans fic ever since I've watched the first episode, but I never found the guts to do it because this is a whole different territory from what I typically write. Oh, but after watching "A Date With Destiny", I really needed to write a Robin x Starfire fic. ^^

Anyhoo, for future reference, I'd like to mention that I'm not very good at keeping characters in character so if they're slightly or just straight out OOC, please forgive me. That would also explain why my fics are set in an AU and why they don't live in Titans Tower or why Robin doesn't seem interested in Starfire or vice-versa except as friends… for the time being. And I don't do well with writing scenes that involve action. I tried once, and it was a complete disaster, therefore, even though they are the Teen Titans, I'm just going to pretend that the city doesn't need to be saved from evil villains for the duration of my fic. I'll save that for an author with talent. ^______^

I'm also aware that Kitten was a "villain", not to mention irritating in the sense that she acted sweet with a dash of acid and psycho on the side. (I mean no offense to those who like her. She was just… ehh… a little too spoiled and carnivorous, in a literal sense, for my taste.) But I kind of need her to be not so whacked out and crazy for all intents and purposes of this fic.

And that about sums it up. Sorry if the first chapter's a snore. I just wanted to do a set-up. The second chapter will be longer to compensate for the briefness of this fic. Reviews, comments, flames, and other constructive/destructive criticism are welcome. =]

**Disclaimer:** I stake no claim to any of the characters from Teen Titans. They belong to Warner Brothers and whoever has legal rights to them. The only thing I have dibs on is the fic. With that said, please don't sue. You are cool. =]


	2. Tuxedos and gowns with a side order of y...

Infatuated 

**[Chapter 2: Tuxedos and gowns with a side order of… you?]**

By: Diana-Jae 

"Good morning, friends," Starfire announced happily as she entered the kitchen from the corridor that led to hers and Raven's end of the apartment. Normally, she'd be the first of all her friends to wake up in the morning, but because she had been deprived a good two hours or so of sleep from the night before, she awoke last among them. Of course, that would be with the exception of Robin, who had probably gotten the least amount of sleep out of all of them.

"Hey, Star," Cyborg and Beast Boy simultaneously greeted, as they looked up from their bowls of cereal. They paused to look at each other before they chorused again, "Jinx!"

Starfire giggled when the two young men became clearly aggravated that they had just put each other on a personal curse.

Raven put the book that she was reading down on the counter from where she sat and rolled her eyes. "We go through this every weekend. When are you two gonna learn to grow up?" she sighed and took a sip of the orange juice that was sitting beside her book. "Have you thought about where you're going to buy your dress?"

Starfire looked up from across the counter where she was busy putting cereal into her bowl and shook her head. "Not yet. Robin has not gotten his tux yet so he said he would accompany me shopping today."

"Didn't he go with Cyborg and Beast Boy when they got theirs?" Raven looked at her two other friends, completely ignoring the fact that they were frantically trying to tell her to say their names through flailing body motions and pointing.

"No, no," Starfire corrected with a smile. "I think Robin was at practice that day." She giggled at her recollected conversation with Robin from the night before and added, "It was the same day that he met Kitten."

Raven picked up her book and started thumbing through the pages. "Oh."

Starfire understood that she didn't need to continue babbling about what she knew. Raven clearly was not interested so she prodded instead, "Did you get your dress already?"

Raven didn't look up from her book but nodded her response. They had been cordially invited to attend the wedding of Bruce and Diana, which was to be held the following weekend. And being that Bruce was tightly connected to Robin in that he had helped to raise the youth when he was a lad, they were obligated to go, and some a bit more interested than others, this meaning Starfire, who had never been to such a ceremony. 

When the Titans had received the ornate invitation, Starfire had immediately asked what type of occasion would require such beauty and intricate writing to ask if they would join. The Titans all concluded that it was a sacred affair followed by festivities and cheerful celebration but that it was a tedious event to prepare for, especially when you were the one in the wedding and a relative to the man and woman for whom the wedding was for.

"Well, I think I will go and see if I can wake Robin up," Starfire announced happily as she took her bowl of milk-less cereal and skipped towards Robin's bedroom, all the while not noticing how Cyborg and Beast Boy tried to catch her attention to say their names and break them free of the childish silent spell they cast on each other.

**

Starfire soundlessly opened the door to Robin's bedroom and poked her head in to see where her victim was. She giggled as she saw his sleeping figure splayed across his bed with his head barely peeking out from a mountain of two giant pillows and the blankets strewn about with half of the comforter covering the floor. Bowl of cereal in her hand, Starfire silently crept into the room and walked around his bed where there stood a small stand with a lamp sitting atop it and placed her bowl down beside the lone item. Tip-toeing back to the one side that Robin unconsciously occupied, she smiled and debated whether she should let him sleep, poke him lightly to slowly wake him up, or to bounce on his bed and shock him with a shriek of his name. She laughed to herself at the prospect of actually going through with her last idea, but decided against it. If she did find the courage to do something that bold, she'd save it for a better day. Right now, her courage was only fairly moderate so she concentrated her powers and made herself lightly levitate from the ground so that she was high enough to reach down and poke Robin in the face. Her brows creased into a slight frown as she tried to decide how she'd move the pillows that covered his face, but before she could even reach down to pull the edge of one off of him, she heard her own yelp escape from her lips as she was pulled down from the air and came crashing onto the bed.

Starfire barely had time to blink and ponder on what had just occurred before she felt one of Robin's pillows land on her face. Trying to shove the pillow from her face, she found that she could not move her arms. Something had her wrists manacled. A frown settling on her delicate forehead, she maneuvered her head from where it lay trapped only to find a pair of familiar hands holding her down, and the maroon-haired teenager could not help the smile that tugged at her lips.

"Nice way to start a morning, don't you think, Star?" Robin's throaty morning voice reached her ears as she sat up with Robin's hands still encircling her slender wrists.

"How long have you been awake?" she pondered aloud.

"Long enough to know what you were going to do."

Starfire giggled. "So are you going to get dressed? It is nearly noon."

"Not really," he answered, as he too sat up, still not letting go of his friend's wrists. "Why? Did you have anything planned?" he added innocently.

"Robin," Starfire whined. "You said you would accompany me…"

"I'm hungry," he interrupted as he spotted Starfire's bowl of cereal. When Starfire saw this, she tried to yank her wrists out and make for her breakfast before Robin could make a steal for it, but he had quickly wrapped his arm well around Starfire's body and against him so that she couldn't move while his hand darted out to his bedside table and grabbed the bowl. With his other hand, he grabbed some of the small flakes and popped some into his mouth. He grinned, knowing that Starfire was probably fuming. "Yum."

"Robin," Starfire began in her best _I-am-royalty-and-I-am-going-to-demand-from-you_ voice, "you will wash up and you will get dressed and you _will_ accompany me to the shopping mall to find a dress as you promised."

Robin seemed unfazed as he started crunching on some more of her breakfast. "Anything else, princess?"

Starfire paused and thought before she brightened up and craned her neck around so that her eyes met his. "Actually, yes. You, Richard John Grayson, will get me another wonderful bowl of cereal for my breakfast."

Robin burst out laughing and slowly released his grip as he hopped off the bed. "Sure thing, Kory Anders." Then he began heading to the bathroom that connected his room to Cyborg's room.

"Hey!" Starfire protested jokingly as she inspected her cereal bowl, which was infested with nothing more but crumbs. "Where are you going? What about my cereal?"

Robin blinked and then slyly, "To take a shower. Why? Would you like to join?" The ebony-haired young man had not had time to even open his mouth to laugh at her when he felt one of his pillows make contact with his head, and the next thing the young Tamaranian knew, she was being wrestled on the bed and mercilessly tickled.

**

Robin and Starfire strolled around the shopping mall, entering stores of interest rather than stores for which they had intended to browse to fulfill the purpose that they had gone for in the first place. They had already entered several stores that sold merchandise for the body and which Starfire had blatantly used Robin as her test model. By the time they reached the end of the mall where they rented out tuxedos, Robin had already undergone seven different versions of lotion and about two different scents of cologne, which thankfully for the boy wonder, were for males.

"I think you smell very nice," Starfire teased with an unrepressed giggle.

Robin pouted, his lower lip jutted out for sheer emphasis. "Now I understand why guys _hate_ being dragged to the mall by their girlfriends."

"But I am not your girlfriend," Starfire said cheekily as she pulled him into the tuxedo shop. "Kitten is, therefore, I will leave that torture you talk about to her. Besides, after that horrible act in your room this morning, you deserved it." She stuck her tongue out at her companion, who chuckled at the memory.

Starfire began looking at the various suits out on display, stopping for a moment at each one and looking at Robin, making a face, and then moving on. She continued this same routine until about halfway around the store, her lips widened happily when her eyes met something they rather liked.

"This looks nice, don't you think?"

Robin rubbed his neck and smiled nervously. "Star, my fashion judgment when it comes to tuxedos is…"

"Excuse me." A man of middle age had walked up to them from the counter and favored the teenagers with a smile. Then looking at Robin, he asked, "Is there anything I could help you with?"

"Uhh…"

"Yes," Starfire cut in. "Would it be okay if my friend tries on this tux? You see, we have been invited to a wedding this weekend, and I am helping him find a suit he can wear for the occasion."

The man was startled at the fast transition between male and female but then he smiled at the young lady and took the tuxedo down from where it hung and showed Robin to the dressing room in the back. Starfire continued to browse around the store for a few minutes, and when her eyes spotted something of interest, she grabbed it and showed it to the sales clerk, who knocked on Robin's door.

"Sir, I think your young lady friend would like you to try this on as well."

Robin opened the wooden door, fully dressed in the black tux that Starfire had chosen, and looked at the material that lay on the man's hand. A brow rose significantly as he picked it up and examined it. He thanked the man and walked back into the room, but not even a few seconds had elapsed when the door swung back open, a faint blush and a sheepish smile tainting his expression.

"Um, how do you put this thing on?"

"No need to be embarrassed," the sales clerk reassured as he stepped in to adjust Robin's tie, "most men don't really know how to put them on. I, myself, didn't learn until maybe two years after high school."

Robin stumbled out of the dressing room as he managed a thank you to the sales clerk. Robin looked around the store and found his friend stooped over other such accessories as canes and top hats. The youth adjusted his tie around his neck and walked over to Starfire, lightly clearing his throat to catch her attention.

"So what do you think?"

Starfire cocked her head, her eyes shining with delight giving Robin the hint that she very well approved. "Robin, if I did not know any better and had not known that it was you, I think I would be falling at your feet in worship."

Robin chuckled. "Falling at my feet in worship, huh? That sounds like a compliment."

"Maybe a bit exaggerated, but it was," Starfire confirmed, beaming for a moment before the smile faltered and she hastened to add rather uneasily, "I forgot to ask you before, but your girlfriend… she does not mind that we do a lot of hanging out? Beast Boy and Cyborg said that some girls have this nasty habit of throttling any other woman who goes anywhere near their _man_."

If it weren't for the discipline and self-control that Bruce had so easily distilled into him during training, Robin would have burst out in a fit of laughter. "Girls always get jealous when another girl starts talking to their boyfriend, and it's the same way with guys, but I already mentioned you to Kitten, and she seemed perfectly okay with it," he assured.

"Okay, good," Starfire breathed. "Cyborg also mentioned that she would probably want to rip my head off if she got the wrong idea about our friendship, especially because we are so, as Cyborg had put it, close." She nervously began to intertwine her fidgeting fingers with each other. "And I very well happen to like my head where it is."

"Don't worry, Star. Kitten understands, and besides, I kind of like where your head is too."

Starfire felt much better and diverted her attention back to browsing through the other displayed items in the store while she waited for Robin to change back into his normal attire and pay for the suit.

"So how about you? Do you think I can get a second opinion?" Robin asked the sales clerk when he passed him on the way back to the dressing room.

"I don't think it would be wise for you to disagree with her judgment," the clerk replied and added with a smile, "she does have excellent taste."

That was all Robin needed to hear as he thanked the man and walked into the dressing room.

**

Robin and Starfire had already walked into several shops that specialized in dresses, but for each store that they entered, they came out empty-handed, and Starfire looked about ready to give up. The dresses she had seen were all either exceedingly gaudy, distastefully plain, unreasonably expensive, or too big.

"Robin, let us just go home," she pouted. "I do not wish to keep you here any longer, and I am about to go crazy myself if I have to go into another store where I shall only be disappointed yet again."

Her companion frowned at her sudden pessimism. Under everyday instances, it was usually the Tamaranian young woman that brightened the spirits of the Titans when their days had come crashing down. It was always a mystery to him why most people with the gift of optimism, and not to mention enthusiasm, the size of the universe was never able to cheer up they themselves when they were down. Brushing that thought aside, he put a hand encouragingly on Starfire's shoulder.

"Hey, let's try one more place, and if you still can't find what you're looking for, we'll go home, and I'll call Barbara and ask if she knows of a good place to get your dress."

Starfire said nothing as she contemplated what he said.

"And tell you what," he added, "I'll pick out this last store that way if you really don't find anything, and you still feel lousy, you can blame it on me."

"I believe that blaming you for my problem would only make me feel worse, Robin," she piped in with a wry smile.

"Hey, I'm just looking out for your good sentiments, and besides, I'm starting to miss that goofy smile on your face. Come on," he coaxed. "One more store, and then I'll buy you a snow-cone afterwards."

Starfire brightened at the idea and agreed to go to the store of Robin's choice, which he had randomly picked in one of the mall's many visual directories. The duo made their way past the throng of other people busily inhabiting the typically weekend-packed shopping center to the Petite Boutique. In comparison to the shops that they had previously browsed, this one was quite smaller and held a fewer selection, but a choice was a choice, and they readily stepped inside where they were automatically greeted by a sales-woman, who said that she would be right by the shoe rack if they needed anything.

Starfire half-heartedly peered through the dresses that hung on the racks, occasionally taking the fabric into her hands and feeling it to see whether or not she agreed with its texture. She had come quite close to finding one that she found in good taste once or twice, but she easily dismissed it the moment she found it too large for her small body. On the verge of pulling out of the store yet again, she was stopped when she heard Robin call her from where he stood farther back in the store.

"Mm?"

"Here," he pointed at a dress that hung on a rack against the wall, "what about this one?"

Starfire made a face as she examined it and then skeptically, "I don't know, Robin. It looks a little too flashy for a wedding."

"Try it on at least," he proposed, taking the dress off of the rack and handing it to her. He was somewhat determined to make sure that Starfire did not leave the mall without her dress and without her usual buoyant demeanor.

"But how do you know…"

He smiled. "Trust me. It's just a visual I got."

The girl blushed and put the dress back on the rack. Robin was about to ask what she was doing, but just as quickly as she had put it back, she had rummaged through the other dresses of its kind and pulled out another one. "You had the wrong size," she informed him and then scampered off to the dressing room.

"Your girlfriend find everything okay?" 

The woman that had greeted them when they had come in walked up to Robin and startled him a little, and whether from her sudden appearance or from her question, he was not quite sure. When her inquiry finally registered and settled completely in his brain, he merely chuckled and corrected her.

"She isn't my girlfriend, miss. Just a friend."

"Just a friend? It's easy to mistake that relationship as more than just," she explained and then winked. "You two do make a cute couple."

Robin did not know how to respond to that, and he could feel the temperature in his cheeks rising. He had never thought about his relationship with Starfire that way, nor did he really think about what other people probably perceived their tight knit _friends-only _relationship to be. So the young woman's ignorance-guided assumption had been a big eye-opener for him, but what bothered him more than that was if he was so comfortable with his present relationship with the Tamaranian, why was it that he had a hard time accepting the fact that other people saw it as more than that? He shouldn't care because that's all they were, right? There wasn't a secret behind it. He nervously shifted his gaze to the side, discreetly trying to avoid making eye contact with the sales girl. She did not fail to notice this and only giggled.

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you. Well, if your friend needs anything, you can call me." She pointed at the front desk. "I'll be over there."

Robin nodded and thanked her, simultaneously thanking God in silence that she had left.

Meanwhile, in the dressing room, Starfire gazed at her reflection in one of the three mirrors. For a choice made by someone who did not normally wear dresses, Robin's choice had been right on the money. Whatever his visual had been, she thanked him for having conjured it up because she rather liked the dress. It was of an autumn-beige hue and was light in weight unlike some of the velvet dresses that, though beautiful and comfortable, had a somewhat heavy feel to it. Two pairs of thin straps held the dress up, and the neckline dipped generously enough to show enough cleavage without being classified as tasteless or offensive. It hugged quite perfectly to the shape and contour of her body and curves, slightly accenting them, and the skirt cascaded down to the middle of her calves where the skirt became what looked like tassels that fell to just above her ankles where she knew for sure that the sandal-type strappy heels that she had only worn on one occasion would come in quite nicely. But what she liked most about it was that the dress was formal enough to wear to a wedding but still had a modern, sexy edge to it bordering on casual-dressy without being either too plain or extravagant. Giving herself a final once-over, she quickly jumped out of the dress with the intent of buying it.

When she came out of the dressing room, Robin was quite disappointed that she did not wear the dress for him to see. But judging by the smile that graced her full lips and the way the dress was draped in her arms without any tension, he was able to tell that she had found what she was looking for.

"Don't I get a preview?" he asked teasingly. "I wanna know if I'm going to fall at the feet of Kory Anders in worship too."

Starfire giggled and shook her head as she bounced on over to pay for her dress. "Your visual should have been enough, Robin. I would think it was a good one if it managed a point blank."

Robin favored the girl with an impish grin as he followed her to the counter. "You wouldn't still be game for that snow-cone, would you?"

"Only if you are still paying," she answered, grinning.

**

The two Titans walked back to their apartment complex, Starfire still nibbling lightly on the snow-cone that Robin had bought for her. The first time that she had ever had one, nobody had bothered to tell her not to take in a giant gob at once, and so she did and was inherently rewarded with a headache the size of Cinderblock for the next few minutes. After that semi-traumatic experience, albeit humorous, the young Tamaranian had been afraid of snow-cones until Robin had bought one for her during the summer fair. Still refusing the sweet, refreshing snack, he had stuck a straw in the mound of colored ice and told her to sip lightly. She had done so gingerly, and when she had come out of the sip without so much as a pang in her head, she had started to buy them whenever she had the chance though as of recent, she had lost the straw.

"Robin?" Starfire began tentatively before Robin could open the door to their apartment.

"Yeah?"

"I would like to thank you for accompanying me today. I do not think I would have been able to find my dress had you not come along." Robin was slightly taken aback when the girl threw her arms around him in an embrace. "You really are what you all refer to as a _best _friend," she whispered before letting go and walking into the apartment.

Robin stood out there, his face slightly flushed, wondering what had just happened. Had it been any other day, he would have hugged her back and walked in immediately after her, but today seemed different. Her words and that brief contact that she had made with him gave him a strange feeling of wonderful sensation and, ironically, it also made him afraid. But it was far from the type of fear when you got the chills or when you knew something terrible was about to occur. No, this type of fear was alien to him; it was warm, and he began to wonder if it had any connection to the feeling that he had felt after the young woman at Petite Boutique had called Starfire his girlfriend.

Shaking his head, he walked into the apartment. That couldn't be it; he was thinking crazy. Starfire was just a friend, and they had held each other closer than just hugs and it never used to bother him, so she couldn't be affecting him. These feelings that he was experiencing were probably due to lack of sleep and stress. It was a minor thing, he finally decided, and he would forget it by the following day. He had to call Kitten anyway. Talking to her would surely help him forget.

**

**Author Notes:** Hopefully, this chapter has compensated for the previous installment's two pages worth of writing. Still, I apologize for any quirks in the chapter. If it bothers you a whole lot, just remind yourself that the author can't write and that this is set in an AU. ^^; Though I watch the series on a regular basis, I continuously throw in random pieces of things here and there from what I hear, such as Starfire's alias on Earth as Kory Anders and Robin's real name being Richard Grayson. Actually, about that, I was a bit confused as to which Robin he was because I heard that there's also a Tim Drake. o.O If Robin in the CN series is Tim Drake, then I apologize for the mistake. I merely assumed that it was Richard Grayson because Richard, if I'm not mistaken, was Nightwing, and in "How Long is Forever", Robin became Nightwing. It's how my logic worked out. ^^

There's also that Bruce and Diana thing. =\ Uhh… don't think that happened, but I _had_ to get two people together, and they were the first two people that I thought of that would kind of fit the part. The only official couple I know of in this universe is Robin and Starfire, so if you could be lenient about my random choice of bride and groom, that would greatly be appreciated.

**shimmersea: **Thank you for being my first reviewer. =] I appreciate it. And I thought Kitten kissing Fang was kinda freaky too, so if Fang does show up to whisk her away, he will sans the spider-face.

**eventidespirit:** I've actually read your fic already, but I never got the chance to review it. I'll make it a point to review some time today. ^^ And yes, I agree that writing in an AU gives you more freedom, and because I'm really terrible at keeping within boundaries of character and the original plot, writing AU has helped a lot. And thank you for the suggestion about Starfire's dialogue. I've gone and revised the first chapter so that the contractions are out. Thank you for reviewing.

**ocdsugar: **Yep, this takes place in an alternate reality. All my fics take place in alternate realities, so characters are kind of OOC. ^^;

**Aeris9919:** Hehe… someone who feels the same as me about Kitten? Cool. She wouldn't be terrible if she weren't so err… spoiled, I guess. I can't seem to find the right word. Anyhoo, thanks for the review.

**rebekah: **I don't think _everyone_ hates her; it's just my opinion. I don't necessarily _hate_ her either… I just don't like her because she acts too over the top and she's kind of irritating in a pushy way. There's a difference between hate and not linking in my book, by the way. ^^; And thank you for reviewing.

**Nameless: **Kitten is going to be OOC in the first half of the fic. Whether or not I decide to make her bitch side come out later on in the fic all depends on what happens. I was actually debating whether or not to make keep her in character (she's one of the characters that are easy to keep in character). ^^ Would you like her to go postal and bitchy?

**Cheerful Oblivious: **Thank you for reviewing. ^^ I haven't gotten around to reading your fic yet, but I'll make a point to do so today and review.

**Braveheart: **Thank you so much for reading, and I'm glad that my fic was an AU that you liked. =] They are best friends, but being a Robin x Starfire fic, that will eventually change into _more-than-friends_ relationship.

Reviews, comments, flames, and other constructive/destructive criticism are welcome. =]

**Disclaimer:** I stake no claim to any of the characters from Teen Titans. They belong to Warner Brothers and whoever has legal rights to them. The only thing I have dibs on is the fic. With that said, please don't sue. You are cool. =]


	3. Biting Back That Drugged Feeling

Infatuated 

**[Chapter 3: Biting Back That Drugged Feeling]**

By: Diana-Jae 

Cyborg let out a long whistle as he watched the plastic disk soar high and far over his head to the point where he could no longer run after it in time to get a hold of it. His big, sturdy frame also cringed when he saw Beast Boy come to a slide after his complicated maneuver in order to catch the disk from where he stood much farther behind Cyborg. With a grin, he looked at the flushing teen off to the opposite end of where he stood, noticing with amusement that her face was nearly the same color as her hair.

"What an arm!" His booming compliment elicited a nervous giggle from Starfire, who did not quite know how to approach that.

"I suppose I should thank you for the compliment?" Starfire asked and then quickly furthered, "It was a compliment, was it not?"

Cyborg chuckled and moved his head up and down slightly in a nod. "Yeah, Star. That _was_ a compliment."

"Then I thank you," Starfire chirped, a merry twinkle in her eye.

"You can thank me by switching to my team in the next round," he replied and glanced at Beast Boy to see if he caught the implication of his joke, and he snickered when he saw the smaller boy look about ready to chuck the disk at his head.

Raven, who heard this, flinched. "I do _not_ want to be his partner," she said, directing a finger at the changeling.

"Quit being spoil-sports, you guys," Beast Boy muttered from where he sat indian-style on the grass. "I'm not that bad, and you know it. And Raven just doesn't like me." He had said the last part with emphasis and had looked meaningfully at Raven, who rolled her eyes and looked off in another direction. "Can we take a break, guys?" he added. "I'm kind of beat, and I think I could use some lemonade right about now."

Raven, in her black shorts and violet T-shirt, walked through the grassy field to a nearby bench where a blue icebox was sitting. She opened it and grabbed a few to distribute to her friends, who were now in need of something to quench their thirsts.

They had come to the park just a few blocks from their apartment an hour after Robin had left for his second date with Kitten earlier that afternoon. He said he'd take her to a movie followed by lunch, and then he would just meet them at the park. If parties were not rocking the Titans' apartment on Sundays, they were usually out doing something together, which was followed by a movie of one of the teenagers' choice, and according to the rotation, this Sunday turned out to be Beast Boy's turn to pick. His selection, as of the moment, still remained a secret. He never did like to spoil a good movie night.

"Thank you, Raven." Starfire had barely even touched cap of the bottle to pop it open when she felt her body being hoisted into the air. When she realized that it was not her doing, she let out a small yelp, which triggered her assailant to throw her over their shoulder and casually stroll down to her laughing friends. After getting over the initial shock of being taken by surprise, she twisted her head slightly up to see whom her attacker had been and felt embarrassed at not having realized soon enough who it was. Only one person would have the audacity to pull such a stunt, with the exception of the strange and crazy that is. 

Those shocks of spiky jet-black locks belonged to only one person, and she was tempted to hit him on the head with her bottle of lemonade. Had it not been for the fact that the bottle was made out of glass, she would have gone through with the idea.

He had come walking down the concrete walkway that edged along the green fields and spotted Raven and Cyborg off to one side of the park. As he came closer, he saw Beast Boy greedily chugging the rich golden liquid from a bottle and Starfire, who was the closest in range, had her back towards him. Putting a finger to his lips to signal Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy to keep silent about his presence, he had sneakily rushed on over to where Starfire stood oblivious to his company and grabbed her about the waist and up into the air.

"Richard John Grayson, put me down right now." Her attempt at a demanding tone had turned into a squeak when he abruptly flipped her from where she was thrown over her shoulder and back onto the ground.

"Ah, pulling the RJ command on me again," he remarked slyly. His jest was justly rewarded with a sour face from the young woman and then the tongue.

"Jerk," she mumbled as she uncapped the bottle and put her lips upon the rim to sip.

Robin laughed at that. "And who, may I inquire, has been your mentor in such crude vocabulary?"

Starfire blushed and ignorantly pointed a finger at the person Robin had least expected her to learn it from. The pale shoulders of the purple-haired teenager casually went up in a shrug and took a swig of her lemonade. "She was going to learn it eventually," Raven pointed out matter-of-factly. "It might as well have been one of us."

"Sure, but out of the three of you, I would have expected Star to say she learned it from Cyborg or Beast Boy," he replied jokingly.

The ends of Raven's lips turned up slightly as she heard the two boys' shouts of protest. It was not that she had anything against the changeling and the man-machine; she didn't. In fact, she had grown to come to love their company although it had taken her longer to understand and like Beast Boy. They had all always been friends, but the matter of liking them was a whole different story, and in the beginning, she just could not stand the young humorist. But now that she, more or less, _liked_ all her teammates, she merely reacted the way she did out of habit. She reacted the way she did just for show. Raven was indeed very close to her four friends; she just had a very subtle, if not different, way of showing it. That was the way the life she was meant to lead dictated her personality to be, and the Titans, in turn, had come to be used to it.

"I take serious offense to that, man," Beast Boy pouted. "You're implying that me and Cy are bad influence. I'm seriously gonna have a talk with my lawyer about you, Robin."

"Can I hear an _Amen_? You're going to need that lawyer." Raven offered sarcastically.

"So who's ready for another round of Ultimate Frisbee?" Cyborg cut in with glee as he discarded his empty bottle.

"Me!" Beast Boy dropped his bottle on the ground and rushed towards Cyborg's side, ready to grab it from him so that he could cast the initial throw.

"Count me in," Robin said, which was followed by Starfire's enthusiastic, "Me too, please."

Raven walked back towards the bench. "If you guys don't mind, I think I'll sit this round out."

**

The sun was already beginning to set, and the Titans were about ready to call it a day, but Cyborg had decided to give the disc one last pitch before they all headed back to the apartment. It went a definitely good distance, and Robin, who stood farther behind Starfire, ran ahead with the intent of catching the flying object, but so did Starfire who was now running from the opposite direction, with her eyes on the disc. The two teenagers were paying more attention to the toy than to each other because the next minute their bodies collided with one another, and they went sprawling to the ground. It took another moment or two before they realized the awkward position that they were in. After the collision, Robin had been sent crashing to the ground first. Fortunately for Starfire, Robin acted as a kind of cushion to break her fall when she toppled directly on him, much to the misfortune of the said "cushion".

Both teenagers' cheeks were flushed a light shade of rose, and it was Starfire who spoke up first, her words a mumbling whisper. All that he could make out of her gibberish was his name before she stood up and dusted off her denim cut-off shorts and then politely apologizing. Robin took the hand that was offered to him, and pulled himself up.

"Ow, I think I just broke a rib," Robin offered jokingly as he looked at Starfire whose blushing had yet to wane.

"Are you hurt? Do we need to get you professional medical attention? A broken rib, if I am not mistaken, is very painful," she started in a flurry, obviously not having caught the witty sarcasm in his voice.

Robin chuckled and shook his head. "I was just joking around, Star. I don't have a broken rib."

Starfire stared at him blankly, his words of reassurance not having fully registered into her panic-infested brain just yet, but when it did, she snorted and playfully smacked him on the shoulder, which only elicited deeper laughter from the young man.

"I think we better head back," Cyborg announced. "It's getting' dark, and we still gotta make dinner and watch Beast Boy's flick pick."

"How about we just order pizza?" Beast Boy suggested and then hastily added, "Vegetarian pizza."

"Oh, hell no. You want your veggie pizza, then you can buy your own box. If we're ordering pizza, I want my pepperoni and everything else on it," Cyborg retaliated.

The two continued to bicker good-humoredly as Raven picked up the icebox and walked behind them. From where they still stood behind their friends, Starfire pointed out, "We are even now?"

"Even?" Robin asked bewildered.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack earlier today, and I gave you a broken rib," she bubbled, now her turn to cast a joke. She giggled and skipped off. Robin smiled and walked after her, his thoughts immediately digressing from that of just returning home. 

Though it was really only seconds before Starfire abruptly pushed herself off of him with that silly, albeit nervous, grin on her soft features, it felt much longer than that when Robin had stared into bottle-green orbs, her silky hair a halo of dark-red around her face. The proximity of their faces to each other had been far more than generous because the boy wonder had felt her breath warm moisten his lips, and the tip of her nose had grazed gently against the tip of his. Robin nearly had to physically hit himself when the next thing that bubbled into his mind was how soft Starfire's breasts felt against his hard chest.

The comical look that proclaimed that he was about to gag did not go by unnoticed by Starfire, who had felt a sudden change in her friend's mood. She slowed down to match her pace with his and gently asked, "Robin, is anything wrong? You do not look well."

He managed a wry smile. "I'm just tired, Star, but thanks."

Starfire stretched her arms and put them lazily behind her head as she continued to walk down the path with Robin, their three other friends walking a little farther ahead. "Me too. I believe this activity you call Ultimate Frisbee has proved rather tiring." She smiled and added, "I am sure that Beast Boy's movie choice and some popcorn will be relaxing."

Robin said nothing and instead nodded to show that he agreed with Starfire's assumption. There were too many things racing through his mind at that moment, and it was not helping that Starfire kept pursuing speech. But not too long after, he could no longer fully understand what she was saying, and it would have been fine if he had completely zoned out, but for some strange reason, a few of her words would somehow penetrate his zoning barrier, and that didn't work too well with his concentration.

It was twilight, and the vague silhouette of the moon against the darkening sky was beginning to grow brighter. Robin was still in deep thought, if not some form of reflection, about what had happened earlier that day while Starfire was still going on brightly about the events of the day when he hadn't been around. His intention was not to be rude, but he had eventually accomplished what he needed to in order to reach his zone. There he was contemplating about what had just happened that day. He tried to start from the point where his and Kitten's date started, but he would think about that for no more than a second when his thoughts would flutter away and suddenly think about Starfire. Starfire, and how she was so light and how nice she felt as he picked her up in his arms. Starfire, and how she had fallen quite nicely on him. Starfire, and how she was his best friend. Starfire, and how he could possibly be thinking of her that way. And what about Kitten? Wasn't he dating her? Why, all of a sudden, did all these thoughts about Starfire, of all people, manifest? He didn't understand. His emotions and confusion had chosen the most awful time to take him on a turbulent roller-coaster ride.

The click of a front door took him out of his reverie, and he found himself back at the apartment. Cyborg had already unlocked the door, and Beast Boy and Raven were filing in. He glanced at Starfire as she, too, walked in the doorway. She looked over her shoulder, and asked, "Cyborg would like to know if pizza sounds good for dinner."

He nodded and watched her go off. Again, he felt like pummeling himself when his eyes traveled to Starfire's long, slender legs of their own accord. He never used to pay any attention to them; after all, Starfire's battle garment did consist of a tight-fitting, purple mini-skirt, and he would have had to notice those same legs then, but he never did. The question that plagued him then was: why now? Why these glances, these thoughts, these feelings when he already had a girlfriend? And bigger yet, why did he feel guilty for looking at Starfire the way he did when he should be feeling the guilt of checking out someone else when he was already going out with Kitten but did not feel that fault then?

Raven, who was still standing by the doorway waiting for him to enter, allowed a small grin to curl on her lips as she watched Robin with amusement. "Stop staring, boy wonder. You're drooling."

Robin shook his head, a blush creeping on his sharp features. Was he really being _that_ obvious? He mentally reminded himself to go and see Raven later and get an opinion from the withdrawn member of the team about this sudden interest in Starfire. He didn't know how helpful she would be what with repressing all of her emotions, but it wouldn't hurt to try. For a fact, he knew that if he were being serious about a subject, no matter how trivial, Raven would not ridicule or embarrass him.

**

Beast Boy's eyes widened in terror and thrill at the chilling conclusion of the film before the credits began to roll. Their movie night had started later than they had intended because their pizza had arrived another half an hour later than the designated time, so they did not get to have their dinner at about eight as planned but at nearly nine, leaving their movie postponed until that time.

Beast Boy's film choice had been _Wicked Scary: Director's Cut_, which lasted about a good two hours and a half so that by the time the film was over, it was already eleven-thirty. It wouldn't have been a problem had it not been a Sunday night and they didn't have to get up for school and work the following morning, but unfortunately, it was. Beast Boy laughed as he leaned over to take out the DVD from the player and put it back in its case.

"Don't you guys just love the cheap thrills?" he asked.

"It was better than the original," Cyborg agreed. "I was getting goose-bumps on my goose-bumps, and I don't know about you guys, but that's sayin' a lot." He stood up from where he was lying on the carpeted floor and stretched. "Well, I'm ready to call it a night. I don't really feel like being yelled at by my manager if I end up sleeping on the job, and lately the auto shop's been rolling in busy days."

"Me too," Beast Boy yawned as he got up and headed for his room. "Night."

"Night," Robin and Raven chorused. Robin would have gotten up also to head for his own bedroom, but the weight that rested on his lap was preventing him from doing so. When Starfire had said that she was tired, she must have really meant it. She had surrendered herself to slumber's arms about three-quarters ways into the movie, and she had unconsciously curled herself up in Robin's lap. He gingerly brushed off wisps of maroon-colored hair away from where they had fallen across her face from the messy ponytail that she had put it in when the pizza arrived.

"I'm gonna go to bed," Raven said softly and then gestured at the sleeping girl, "I take it you'll take her to her bedroom."

When he nodded, she stood up and headed for her own room but was called back by the Titans leader just before she was completely out of ear shot.

"What?"

"Do you mind if I ask you something?"

Raven raised a brow in suspicion and cautiously walked back to the armchair that she had occupied during the movie and sat on it, intently studying Robin. "It depends."

"Well, earlier today," he paused and blushed as the question he was going to pose flashed in neon colors in his mind, almost mocking him, "when you told me to stop staring…"

A very fleeting grin flashed through Raven's features that Robin would not have caught if he was not so well attuned to such tiny things, and realizing that she found him amusing, he frowned. "Raven, what went through your mind when you saw me staring at Star?"

His inquiry doubly took Raven by surprise. She had not expected that at all, and looking back at him, she noticed that his anxiety was wiped away and in its stead was seriousness. Raven didn't know if she could trust herself to speak because her usually articulate self might only be able to manage sputters for she was still a little shocked and unsure if Robin had really asked her what he did.

When his friend didn't reply, Robin shifted a little in his seat and looked down at Starfire, the rounded part of her smooth shoulder bare from the tank top that she wore. "I just thought I'd get a girl's opinion, and since my situation kinda involves Star, I thought I'd ask you. Besides, you kind of already caught me, which I hope stays between you and me. And I could never ask Cy and Beast Boy this. They'd never let me live it down."

"I still don't understand what you're trying to ask me," Raven told him, confused, the shock of his question now fading.

"I just wanna know why all of a sudden, I'm…," Robin gritted his teeth from embarrassment and tried to dish out the next part of his sentence as quickly as he could, "…checking Star out. I mean, especially because she's my best friend. She's the last person I'd ever look at like that, and it bothers me even more because I already have a relationship with Kitten."

Raven's brows creased as she tried to search for an answer, and when she finally told him what she thought, he was left in the living room wondering why he hadn't thought about that sooner and why one word could cause him so much stress. But then again, most other young men his age were raging with that, and they weren't stressing out.

"Hormones?" he repeated.

Why was it that he was flipping out? Was there something else besides that? Though Raven's answer had eased his inner turmoil on the matter, it was not quite enough to soothe it completely, and looking down at his friend again, a dainty smile gracing her full pink lips, he knew there had to be much more to it than just that, but for now, he wasn't quite able to put his finger on it. Shaking his head to clear his mind of his current thoughts, Robin gently picked up the girl in his arms and carried her to her bedroom.

**

Robin stood at Starfire's doorway for a moment and watched her peaceful sleeping figure. Her headboard and a quarter of the top half of her bed was covered in a mountain of giant pillows, some taking the shape of random stuffed animals. Robin's lips twitched up slightly in amusement as he recalled the first few months she had spent with them and her preference to sleep with her feet on her pillow and her head hanging off of the bed. She had not come to enjoy pillows until after she and Beast Boy had been cooped up in the apartment one weekend with nothing to do, and the changeling came attacking her with his.

She always did amaze him, if she didn't manage to pique his curiosity. It was the same way the first time that they had met. Cyborg had been the first to find the Tamaranian princess when she landed on Earth, drained of energy, and had slumped against him among the throng of people during rush hour after work. When she awoke, she had been terrified and began murmuring things in a language that Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg could not understand.

Raven and Beast Boy had gotten home just minutes after Cyborg, and the two had stayed by his side to watch the unconscious young woman. The girl was still pale and looked almost sickly so when she began whispering something again in her native tongue and tried to leave, Raven and Cyborg held her back. When Robin had gotten home himself from a late shift at the video store where he and Beast Boy worked, he was surprised to find a stranger huddled against the living room window, looking out at the lights of the dark city.

Robin smiled wryly as he remembered that during their first encounter, he had not trusted her at all, and he winced when he also remembered how he had yelled at her when he got frustrated at not being able to understand anything that she said. Starfire had cringed then and looked away, almost on the verge of tears. But as her emerald-green eyes timidly looked up to meet his rather frustrated azure pair, she did something that he did not expect her to do at all.

She put her hands gently on his shoulders, went up on her tiptoes, and tenderly pushed her mouth against his and kissed him.

Robin's brain nearly stopped functioning then, and he didn't know whether it was from shock or from embarrassment. The kiss had only been for a moment, but it had felt as though she had left her lips on his for much longer because the warmth of her lips did not leave his for a while after. When she pulled away, she blushed and dared not meet his eyes so she focused her gaze on the ground. And if her kiss had nearly given Robin a brain freeze, the next thing that she did just about gave him a coronary.

"I am sorry for being so bold," she said softly in English though it was clear that she was hesitant about what she said. "I realized that you could not understand my language so I thought… well, that is why I kissed you."

It was only later that he found out that Princess Koriand'r, who they had come to call Starfire, could have learned his language by simply touching him and absorbing what she needed to from him but that she had chosen to kiss him instead because according to her, it was much more fun that way. He could not remember what he felt when she told him this, but after she had given him her back-story, it was then that the young man showered her with attention and answers to her innocent questions, their bond of friendship growing every day.

He plodded to his room and wondered if it really was just his hormones. He was, after all, a healthy, red-blooded teenager. Hormones were a given. Robin growled to himself. His mind was now a jumble, and he was praying that by the next morning, he'd be too worried about not having studied for his English exam and too preoccupied with his new girlfriend to even think about the things he was thinking about now.

Lazily dropping his weight onto his bed, he pulled up his covers, and the last thing his mind's eye saw was Starfire.

**

**Author's Notes:** I apologize if this chapter was confusing and dully written, especially in regards to Robin's strange and mixed feelings about Starfire. =\ Had I been allowed more time to write this piece, perhaps the story would have flowed a lot more smoothly, including the absurdity of Robin's emotions. I didn't have much time to write this part out because I had a lot of other things going on, but here it is anyway, and I hope you all enjoyed it. If you didn't catch it, the general idea here was to introduce Robin's problem. He's Kitten's official boyfriend, and he doesn't feel bad that he's checking Starfire out behind her back, but what does bother him is that he feels awful for checking Starfire out at all. (Please note that I'm using the term "checking out" in a general and very loose sense.) So the boy is basically confused, and if you're just as confused, all will be explained as the story progresses. Starfire will not be exempt from this torture of mixed feelings either because she'll be getting it just as bad in the chapters to come. ^^;

I didn't include much of the Titans in the first two installments, so I tried to even it out by giving them more dialogue and description here. On that same note, I know I haven't really put in much about Kitten except that she went here with Robin or went there with Robin and that they're dating. I did that on purpose because when I do bring out her character, I wanted to do it when she meets the Titans, which I should be doing in either the next chapter or the one after that.

Also, concerning the part where Starfire kissed Robin to learn his language, I believe that that was fairly legitimate as far as the comic book is concerned. I had to do some research for that one, but if my research proved to be wrong, please do point it out. Everything else about Robin's reminiscing on that particular event such as who had found her and watched her, I don't think that happened in the comic book, although I think Robin's frustration was also legitimate. ^^ So some parts in it are true to the comic book while others are not so if you feel like there are loop-holes because I didn't stick wholly to the comic book, don't worry because that's the way it should be. It wouldn't do me any good to go wholly by the comic book because this would no longer be a fanfic. So I "loosely" based parts of it from the kiss scene that I've read about. I hope you understand. =]

**Ocdsugar:** Umm… thank you for the cheer? ^^;

**SoullessGamerT: **I'm glad you enjoyed it, though I'm not particularly sure why you would be laughing because I don't do too well in the humor department. ^^; I don't even think that I intended to make any parts funny, but if it made you laugh, that's always a plus. =] Thanks for reviewing.

**Braveheart:** Thank you for reviewing my fic again. ^^ I'm glad you liked the second chapter, and believe it or not, but it's actually hard for me to get Starfire's dialogue right. I always have to re-read the piece at least twice to make sure she sounds, as you say, natural. But if it helps the story, then it's worth it, right?

**sHimBmE tiMbLeRs:** I'm pleased to know that you like my fic and that you thought it wasn't boring. It totally made my day. =] I hope that you liked this installment of the story. 

**Tamaran Girl: **I believe that I can handle your request for a dance between Robin and Starfire during the wedding. ^^ Thanks for the review! And please don't die… I'll try and update this fic every weekend or something. ^^;

**Nobody's Princess:** Thanks for reviewing. =] I totally appreciate it. I'm happy that you thought the scenes were cute – hopefully, you didn't find it too cheesy in this chapter. ^^; As for Robin and Starfire getting together soon, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the fic's not going to end anytime soon so they won't be getting together anytime soon. =\ I promise that they will though. ^^ And about being able to show a website on a story (if you're talking about the URL), it won't show if you make it into a hyperlink. So what I usually do is take the URL and separate it. If you look at some of my most recent Yuu Yuu Hakusho fics, I direct readers to a website so there's a URL at the bottom of every piece except it looks like this: www . geocities . com / kb _ reflections The words are still whole, but the periods, the underscores, and the slashes are all separated so that it doesn't form a hyperlink. Your readers will just have to piece them together. It shouldn't take very long though. ^^ I hope that helped.

**TheUltimateNewbie:** Thanks so much for reviewing and the flattering comments, but really, please don't think too much of me as a writer. ^^; I was quite happy to know that this was an AU that you enjoyed. Made my day, and thanks for directing me to the Robin and Starfire Shrine. =] I'll be sure to join.

**AcagedbirD:** Depending on your definition of "soon", I'm not quite sure if I can grant your request to get Robin and Starfire together. If you can wait another good seven or eight chapters, that's when they'll most likely be together. I hate to dampen spirits, but I don't want to tell you falsely that I'll get them together in the next few chapters if they're not going to be. =\ I don't believe in lying to readers. But I'm glad you liked the fic; hopefully, my answer hasn't changed your mind about it. And I took no offense to your dislike for Kitten. ^^; Everyone is entitles to their own opinions.

**Brie: **^^ I'm glad you loved my story! And better yet, glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks he's Richard Grayson. Thanks for the review.

**ACrazyTeenager2005: **Yay! Another Teen Titans fan and a Robin x Starfire shipper. =] You are a shipper, right? ^^; Thanks for reviewing. Glad you like the fic, and I hope that you enjoyed this installment. 

**Seventy 5ive: **Thank you for reviewing and saving my fic into your favorites. I'm really flattered especially because this was your first AU fic… I'm kind of embarrassed too. ^^ I didn't think people would go for this fic.

**Cherry6124: **^^; Wow… my long sentences are that noticeable? I'm sorry if it comes to eventually bother you, but I always have a lot to say, and I have a really bad habit of sticking it in one sentence. And nope, Kitten isn't evil in this fic or demented. She has to be normal for all intents and purposes of this fic. But if you want her bit**y side to come out later, I believe I can get that aspect of her to come out. It won't be a problem because it won't have a major effect on the plot. Everything will turn out the same in any case. Also I'm sorry that you have to go through the burden of having to read about Robin going out with Kitten. It's hard for me too. ^^; But that will change. I promise. Hopefully, that lightened your mood a little. =] Anyhoo, thank you for reviewing both chapters; glad you liked it.

**lizzy0888: **Always a pleasure to make a reader happy. ^^ I'm glad you found my fic awesome and that you found the plot original. Thanks for reviewing.

**blob:** Don't worry. It's not the end of the story. =] You can expect another seven or eight more chapters ahead. Thanks for taking your time to review.

**Starbolt1218: **^^; Another reviewer who exaggerates my writing ability. I'm getting nervous. Please don't get me wrong. I'm flattered and I appreciate the wonderful comments; I'm just nervous because I, myself, doubt my writing abilities. Just ignore me. =] As for having really long chapters, I just talk a lot, so I guess it carries into my writing or something. o.O I really have no other explanation for long chapters. And Robin and Kitten will break up in due time. I don't feel like spoiling anything, so I'll just leave it that. I'm not much of a Kitten fan either, but yes, I do agree that if she weren't so annoying and spoiled, she would have been a cute character. And I think I've managed to make her more human here. @_@ Anyhoo, thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**insaneoveranime: **Thank you for reviewing. I'm so happy that you liked the story. I liked the second chapter better than the first also. There was more meat to it, y'know? Anyhoo, I'll try to keep updating on a regular basis. =] For now, I hope you liked this installment.

**eventidespirit:** Thank you for reviewing again. =] I liked this chapter better than the first also and for many different reasons including length. There was more Robin x Starfire interaction in chapter 2 than in this one, so I hope you aren't too disappointed. =\ Thank you for the belated greeting, and you're welcome (about reviewing your fic). Please do update soon.

**AnT: **Ah, here we have the one that thinks that Robin is Tim Drake. No… don't think I'm mocking you. I'm not. I'm actually quite thrilled that there's someone who thinks otherwise. ^^ You definitely made my day, but I'm quite sorry to say that I haven't seen Static Shock. Major bummer cuz maybe I could understand your theory better. I don't really know much about Tim Drake and Richard Grayson except the basics, so I'm always glad to know if there other people out there that can point me in the right direction. And I didn't know that Robin (Richard) gets beat up and blown up by Joker in the comics. o.O I think I have learned something new. That's awful. Good thing I'm not writing action scenes, hence, no Joker. =\

**THE AWFUL WRITER: **Thank you for reviewing. I'm glad you like. =] I'll try and give Terra a cameo sometime later in the fic; she'd make a nice addition among other side characters. I'll just have to come up with a side-story, kay?

Reviews, comments, flames, and other constructive/destructive criticism are welcome. =]

**Disclaimer: **I stake no claim to any of the characters from Teen Titans. They belong to Warner Brothers and whoever has legal rights to them. The only thing I have dibs on is the fic. With that said, please don't sue. You are cool. =]


	4. Something You Cannot Teach

**Infatuated**

**[Chapter 4: Something You Cannot Teach]**

**By: Diana-Jae**

Starfire watched the lights atop the elevator indicating what floor it was on, and popped another cookie into her mouth. At the rate that it was going, the elevator would never reach the fourth floor from where it was currently stopped on the tenth floor. Either that or it was stuck, and the prospect of climbing to the tenth floor to take it down to the lobby from where she stood on the fourth floor was complete absurdity. Sighing, she gingerly turned her wrist over to check the time and gasped as she realized that Robin was probably wondering where she was and opted to dash down the stairs to the lobby instead of waiting another few minutes to see if the elevator would move. Unlike Cyborg, Raven, or Beast Boy, Robin and Starfire always left the apartment at a much earlier time in order to make it to their leadership meeting, and being the president and vice-president of the student body, punctuality was a virtue that they had to have.

Bounding around the corner and towards the parking lot, Starfire spotted Robin bending over his motorcycle with a cloth in hand, wiping away a smudge. If Robin was not in training or doing something else productive, he could usually be found tinkering with his bike. As she'd learned from hearsay in the beginning, motorbikes were not considered the safest of transportations, and she had immediately understood why from personal experience during her first ride on it with Robin. 

She had clung on to his waist tightly that she feared that had she held on tighter, she might have mercilessly robbed Robin of his oxygen supply, but as she started riding everyday with Robin when school started, she had started to loosen up and actually come to enjoy riding on the black and red vehicle. She was still taking a risk riding on it, and so was Robin, but she soon learned that he had a knack for maneuvering the bike with incredible ease and grace, which was probably the reason why she had eventually come not to mind the reality of being so close to death while on it.

"I hope I have not kept you waiting for too long," Starfire interrupted tentatively as she tried to shove her small bag of cookies into her bag.

Robin looked over his shoulder and at the sight of the Tamaranian princess, stood up and put the towel away. He merely smiled lopsidedly and ventured, "Finally realized that the elevator wasn't moving?" 

His bright-eyed companion blushed at the simplicity in which he had found her out and nodded. "I couldn't decide whether someone was taking their time or if it was stuck, but when I saw what time it was, I thought that taking the stairs might save time."

Robin laughed and motioned his head towards his bike as he handed Starfire her helmet. "Come on, we better get going. Mr. Kayden isn't really a morning person, and I don't really feel up to his rant if he finds out we're late."

Starfire hopped on to the motorbike behind Robin and placed the purple-pink helmet on her head, sliding the black visor down over her eyes. Robin was rather keen when it came to things that she did and did not prefer, even to such irrelevant things as color, and getting the feeling that black just was not Starfire's color simply from the way it looked on her, he went down to a well-known bicycle equipment shop and putting his masculine pride aside, picked one that he believed would have been to her preference. When she had asked why he had bothered to do such an unproductive and time-consuming thing, he had merely shrugged and told her that he found the lighter color a lot more appealing on her, a comment that she could not forget, to her bewilderment.

"I gather then that we will be on time?" she asked as her arms encircled his waist.

Robin smirked from behind the mask of his own helmet and revved up the bike's tiny, albeit powerful, engine and calmly replied, "When was the last time I ever got us late to school?"

**

"You wanna go with me to the dance, Raven?" Beast Boy asked, suggestively moving his eyebrows up and down in quick succession.

"Get real," she replied curtly as she continued to walk with him towards the table in the cafeteria that they had come to own as the years went on progressively. Though most other young men would have taken her response quite offensively, Beast Boy only laughed, obviously having expected that very retaliation. He knew that it wasn't that she refused to go with him because she didn't like him. It was more along the lines where she simply refused the offer because school activities were just not permissive to her standards, and it was only if she were given a life or death ultimatum, where death was guaranteed if she refused, that she would agree to go. When they sat down, she opened her carton of chocolate milk and dared to inquire with curiosity, "When _is_ the dance?"

Beast Boy merely scratched his head, trying to remember what Starfire had told him. The class from which he just come from, he shared with Starfire, and being that he sat right beside her, the vice-president of the student body shared the basic details that had been discussed during the meeting earlier that day. "I think Star said it was gonna be this Friday night."

"The night prior to Bruce and Diana's wedding," Raven mused absently and then took a light sip from her chocolate milk. "Is she going?"

Beast Boy had yet to catch on and innocently replied, "Yup. It'll make her look bad if she doesn't go. Robin too. Plus, they have to be on the set-up and clean-up committee anyway so it'd be pointless for them not to be there. You know the routine, Raven."

The purple haired teenager nodded, mentally hoping that it wouldn't burn her friends out by the following morning since school dances usually ran until eleven and that's excluding the time that has to be taken in order to clean up the basketball stadium where the event usually took place. She carefully eyed her pizza, and taking a napkin, she began dabbing at the triangular bread to remove as much of the grease as possible. Though, as her friends put it, the grease did help to add to the flavor, Raven was never a big fan of the oily wetness that would usually cover the slice. The grease was below her taste, and if she could find a way to do without it, she would. She had barely even picked it up to put the pointed edge into her mouth when Robin's voice made her divert her attention from her lunch to her leader.

"Hey, where's Kory and Victor?" he casually asked, referring to Starfire and Cyborg's aliases to the innocent populace of the human race.

Raven shrugged and replied with the most plausible answer. "Probably at their lockers." She was about to return to nibbling on her pizza, but it was only then that it occurred to her that Robin was with a companion. Glancing back up at Robin, she confirmed what she thought she had seen. Beside the boy wonder stood a beautiful young woman, a senior just like them if she was not mistaken, with natural golden locks and bright cerulean eyes that she actually dared to think had the potential to rival Starfire's, and by her standards, that was near impossible to come by.

"Hi," the girl giggled when Raven did not say anything.

Raven grimaced, having a very good idea as to who this young newcomer was, and then looked at Robin, who stood beaming at her before proceeding to introduce the lovely blonde by his side, confirming her thoughts. 

"Guys, this is Kitten," he paused to slowly motion his head towards the two Titans, "Kit, I'd like you to meet Gar and Raven." He rubbed his neck nervously, thankful that he was spared having to mention her relationship to him. It was not that he was ashamed of their newfound relationship; he simply believed that it would not agree well with his ego to have to inform everyone that he was her boyfriend when it was already obvious, for in high school, when rumors are ignited, they spread rapidly like a great fire in a wild forest. And this goes on to imply that one simply had to consider that if he were to go ahead and state what was obvious, it would certainly seem as if he were bragging, and Richard Grayson was above such action.

"I've heard a lot about the both of you from Richard," Kitten said as she took a seat next to Raven, who raised a brow at the girl that plopped herself on the seat that was normally occupied by Starfire. Of course, telling her to move was simply out of the question. It was rude, and though she could easily pull it off, Raven did not _do_ rude. So, instead, she shrugged the thought off and went back to the pizza that she had yet been able to nibble only to be interrupted yet again by Kitten lightly nudging her with her elbow and pointing at the paper towel that was soaked with oil. "I take it you're not a big fan of grease on pizza."

Raven stared blankly at her for a moment, debating whether she should be irritated at the girl or at the world for not allowing her that one bite of her lunch to satiate her famished stomach. A glance at Robin through the corner of her eyes forced her to upturn her lips slightly and shake her head. She could be indifferent to many people and could have easily done so with Kitten, but Robin had become too good a friend and so did not dare to allow Kitten the opportunity to assume that Robin hung out with inconsiderate people. "No, grease doesn't really do it for me. I prefer my pizzas without it."

"Me either," Kitten agreed. "It causes such a massive break-out and it's kind of gross, especially when you know exactly how much of that stuff they use."

To Raven's utmost gratitude, Beast Boy stole the spotlight away from her and exclaimed, "Pizza without all its major components is not pizza at all, and that nasty stuff you call grease is a definite major component."

"Not when it's used excessively," she countered and then laughed. "Y'know, you're kind of everything I expected you to be from what Richard tells me."

"Oh, so I guess he also told you how totally awesome I am, right?" Beast Boy joked and received one of Raven's notorious _you've-got-to-be-kidding_ look. He chuckled as he watched Robin take his place beside Kitten. Of course, like Raven, it had also crossed his mind how very strange it looked to have her sitting in Starfire's spot. It was not that he did not like Kitten. In fact, Kitten seemed a rather likeable person to him, despite Raven's lack of enthusiasm thereof, but it was recognized that Raven was not really quick to learn to like people. You had to earn her trust and friendship before she could truly hold you among her circle of friends. Looking at Robin's girlfriend again, he flinched inwardly at the thought of her being one of them and sitting among them everyday. Again, it had nothing to do with disliking her. It was, to put it bluntly, that she was not a Titan, and with her around, they would no longer be able to talk about some of the inside jokes they could easily voice out before, but he felt that it was not his place to bring his thoughts out into the open, and so left them in his head.

"Actually, Richard kind of forgot to mention _that _to me, but I'm sure you gotta be major wicked if you hang out with him," Kitten smiled in girlish triumph when she saw the blush that now tainted her boyfriend's cheeks. "So, like, where are your other friends again? I really wanted to meet, what was her name? Kory?"

"Yeah," Robin replied, scanning the cafeteria for his other two friends, and no sooner had he done so when he heard Starfire's voice gushing to Cyborg about the school dance that coming Friday, but her singsong voice was severed shortly thereafter when her eyes locked onto the blonde girl sitting in the seat that was clearly marked by her over her years of high school. Of course, it had yet to occur to her who the mysterious young woman might have been, and it did not help that she was only getting a view of the back of her head. Obviously disappointed, she marched up to the table and put her textbook and clear binder down beside Robin, who could not even get a word in before the Tamaranian began to speak to Kitten in her best no-nonsense voice, which really never came out to sound as intimidating and demanding as she would have preferred it to be.

"Excuse me, miss, but I believe you are sitting in _my_ seat, and it would be greatly appreciated if…" her voice had started strong, but as she slowly began to realize who it was sitting in her seat, her voice seemed to waver and then soften. She darted her eyes at Robin and simultaneously felt embarrassed and childishly frustrated as it registered that his clear blue eyes were silently twinkling with unadulterated amusement at her naive rashness. When she shifted her gaze towards the girl, she laughed nervously at her mistake as she took a seat next to Beast Boy. Now that the blonde young woman's face was in her line of vision, Starfire easily matched her face with the name in her head. "I am very sorry," she quickly apologized as she finally got a good look at the new girl. "I did not realize you were Kitten."

"And you're Kory Anders, right?" Kitten pursued. "You know, Richard talks about you the most," she paused and laughed, "and if he didn't tell me that you were his best friend, I think I'd be jealous or something."

A modest pink hue had set into the normally peach colored complexion of the Tamaranian more so at Kitten's confession than discovering that Robin spoke so much about her. After all, she was so used to Robin talking to her and spending time with her that she was not really to be taken by surprise if half of the things he talked about were of things he did with her, but it was a strange event to have this girl that she did not know personally come straight and tell her that there was a possibility that she could envy her because of a simple friendship with Robin. But she decided to ignore that statement and opted to bubble in all her genuine excitement at finally being able to meet the young woman who had managed to captivate her leader's heart.

Questions and gossip had been rallied in a friendly manner between the two young women, who seemed to click pretty well, but it must be considered that being the vice-president of the student body, it would have made her seem ill of character to not speak to Kitten, and it was also just not in Starfire's nature to disregard her as well as it being in her interest not to disrespect her best friend by not showing Kitten some form of friendliness. Besides, Starfire had no reason to ignore the blonde beauty; they had only met personally in the past few minutes. Robin from where he sat beside his girlfriend, his fingers lazily intertwined with hers, watched with amusement and relief at how his friends took to Kitten so well, with the exception of Raven, but that was to be expected, and he did not fail to acknowledge that she did try and give off a feel good impression albeit short-lived. 

At the point where Starfire tactfully inserted the dance in her attempt to "advertise" it, Kitten had eyed Robin with interest. His brows had knitted into a comical horror for but a fraction of a second before his eyes automatically shifted to pour attention on the grinning Tamaranian. Knowing exactly what the twinkle in Kitten's eye had meant without having to question her, he glowered at Starfire because he was aware of the fact that she knew that dancing was not his strong point. The girl, upon realizing the energy coming from a pair of electric blue eyes, merely batted her own bottle-green ones innocently and giggled as she stood up from her seat, opting to go and buy her lunch rather than stay where she was seated and endure Robin's _I'm-so-gonna-get-you-back_ look. 

"Kit, I'm gonna get us something to eat. You have anything in mind?" Robin pursued in an attempt to leave his girlfriend to speak to Starfire without arousing any form of suspicion though it really was not necessary.

She shook her head as she disengaged her hand from where it was interlaced with his. "Maybe just a bottle of water." And she resumed conversing with Beast Boy and Cyborg, who had found an inexplicable queer interest in her.

"I hope you do know that you're bound to get your just desserts because of this, right?" An impish expression had settled onto Robin's sharp features as he finally caught up to Starfire. Robin had posed his statement a little too good-naturedly, and such an attitude had surprised Starfire. She had expected him to be pouting, realizing that there was no way he could possibly back out of dancing anymore, which is what she had tried to get him to do in the past dances when many a girl had walked up to the student body president and asked for a dance. The idea of revenge had not occurred to her, though that should have been the first thing she should have worried about when she had decided to bring up the dance.

"She was going to find out about it eventually," Starfire countered with the equal whole-heartedness of her friend as she turned around to face him, "so it does not make a difference whether I brought it up or not."

Robin did not look at Starfire then and instead fixed his gaze off to the side, his chin tilted up a little in an effort to carry his male pride as he usually did in those rare but beautiful times that the young woman was able to rope him, and at this familiar sight, the Tamaranian could not resist the widening smile of triumph. "Was there anything you wanted?" she hastened to query when she sensed his obvious discomfort.

"Oh yeah. Star, I know I usually take you to the studio after school, but I kind of told Kitten that I'd give her a lift home." He rubbed his neck nervously. "So I was hoping that you could that you could catch a ride with someone else or something."

For a moment, it seemed as though her world had plunged into a gutter and her joy sucked out of her with a cold, swift motion. Robin had to be joking, but as she scanned his eyes, he found not the slightest trace of playful deceit in it, which she had come to easily pick up on after knowing him as well as she did even though many a people would find it difficult to catch. This had to be his aforementioned "just desserts" for her, his revenge, and she found it rather cruel that he would stoop so low as to decide not to giver her a lift at the last minute in order to get her back for getting him into a predicament that was inevitable anyway. A flash of anger and helplessness surged through her body for a fraction of a second before she pursed her lips in an attempt to keep her emotions at bay. Her eyes looked away from Robin then, but it was too late for he had already translated the look he had seen in their depths and realized what she was thinking. The boy wonder, too, had honed his skills into reading into the emotions of his friend, no matter how short they lasted or how subtle they turned out to be, that to most others, it would not be a surprise if they interpreted such a skill as mind-reading.

"Starfire," he said softly with a chuckle, "I'm more humane than that."

The young woman's face slowly turned up to face his once more, her dainty features softening from the previous hardness that had contorted. "Then why…?"

"As my best friend, I'm asking if you could do me this one really big favor," he interrupted, and she was not deaf to the awkwardness in his tone for having to ask her such a thing, to tell her that he was refusing her for his girlfriend for the day. "I was being stupid, and I admit it – I was being reckless when I told her I'd drop her off at home. It's just…" he paused and looked almost helpless, sorry, "…I forgot about having to take you to the studio. I swear to you that I won't betray you like this again." 

Both parties knew what he meant by betrayal – that he chose to forsake Starfire, who he had known for two years, at the last minute in order to make his girlfriend of a few days happy. It would not have been betrayal had Starfire known about this ahead of time, had her schedule that was tied to his because of certain factors was considered.

For a moment, Robin could have sworn that he saw the faintest trace of disappointment in her expression but it quickly vanished, and she gave him a reassuring smile. "Betrayal is a harsh term, do you not agree? Mm, you owe me big, Richie," she stopped as if dwelling on the thought that Robin had to do something for her in the future, but a lop-sided grin formed on her lips and she added, "I hope you have fun with Kitten today."

Robin lightly placed his hands on her slender shoulders and his blue eyes softened in gratitude. "Thanks, Star. You don't know how much your support means to me." He quickly pecked her on the cheek by means of a friend thanking another and wandered back to his girlfriend.

The girl stood in the same spot for a few more moments, her hand absently touching the spot where his warm lips had made contact with her skin. She flushed as she remembered the first and only time she had ever kissed Robin, and that had been such a long time ago when she was childishly looking for humor in her attempt to seek knowledge of his language. His lips had felt wonderful against her own, warm and moist, the perfect shape for her own, and it made her fidget unconsciously when she swore she could have heard her inner conscience say that she loved it for more than just for the thrill of getting to kiss a boy. She had kissed many of her young male playmates within the confines of her palace home on Tamaran, but she was just a child then and those kisses had been juvenile flirting, provoked merely by the prospect of thrill and the curiosity of their reactions. At their silent faces of embarrassment or their exaggerated expressions of disgust at having been kisses, the young Princess Koriand'r only cast a tiny giggle, but when she attempted the kiss with Robin, she was already a blossoming teenager, and she had not played the kissing game for years. The idea that she may be the one to be put into embarrassment also had not crossed her mind, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he had been a stranger and that she had placed her Tamaranian lips upon human lips. It had sent an almost magnificent, pleasurable shiver up her back, a wonderful yet mysterious sensation that made her not want to withdraw from that contact. And in her innocence, she had first thought that the feeling was caused due to his being of the human race, not among the Tamaranian people and later on, she had concluded she had felt those things because they were destined to be what humans dubbed _best friends_. But no, it had simply been something else, but what it was she could not quite comprehend, and she never dwelled upon it long enough to investigate the feeling she had experienced further.

Shaking her head from her trance, Starfire chided herself for thinking about her best friend in such a manner, and more so because he was already devoted to another. She walked towards the snack bar trying to figure with the intention of purchasing a slice of pepperoni pizza while simultaneously coming up with a way to get to the studio after school because it had always been Robin who had given her a lift even during the season where basketball practice was a part of his daily routine because it never started until about forty-five minutes after classes had officially ceased for the day and Robin was never the type to sit around idle for an hour so he had taken it upon himself to race against the clock to get Starfire to work and then make it back for his own practice. He did not mind it; in fact, he loved it for the thrill of speeding through traffic was provoking enough.

**

Starfire stood by the lamppost that was positioned by the concrete staircase that led to the front of the school, and looked at her watch. She had never taken the bus before so she had not the slightest idea as to the time that it would arrive, and with the luck she was having that day, she was almost certain that she would be late for her photo shoot. She was beginning to pace back and forth in a panic and began to wonder if she had been foolish for refusing to ride with Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy, but decided that she had done the right thing because they worked on the other side of town. Robin may be employed at the same movie rental store that Beast Boy works at, but his shift never started until much later, and this had no relation to his having basketball practice, therefore, he could usually afford to give her a ride. Her pace increased and before she could even ponder about other things such as the dance that coming Friday, she felt her body collide with someone else's.

On impulse, Starfire shut her eyes tight and braced herself for the fall that was sure to come, but to her great astonishment, it never came. Peeking open one eye, her bottle-green eyes came into contact with deep, hazel ones. "R… Roy?" she stuttered.

"Hey there, class VP. How's it going?"

Starfire wriggled herself from his hold and stepped back so that they were decently facing each other. She fidgeted as she found herself under his scrutiny because she had always found his penetrating gaze and grin rather unnerving, which was actually an effect that was quite the opposite for the rest of the female population who found it disarming. "Everything is quite well, thank you."

"You waiting for the bus or something?"

Starfire blushed and nodded. "Robin has made other plans and was probably too busy to have informed me earlier, so I am hoping that the public transportation will arrive soon otherwise I am afraid my manager may not be too happy."

Roy chuckled. He was one of Robin's good friends, and he had taken quite an interest in the lovely Kory Anders, though not romantically because his heart already belonged to his girlfriend of two years, Donna. He found her naiveté absolutely charming, her personality to be captivating, and he recognized her beauty when he first met her and had not hesitated to tell her. It had been this boldness that made Starfire a little skeptical about him especially because she was aware of his relationship with Donna. Of course, she did not yet understand the trust of love that formed after a relationship that lasted as long as his and Donna's. Starfire was fond of him, but he was one of her friends who she preferred not to spend too much time with in fear that she would come to want to distance herself away from them, and that was something she wished not to happen. 

Roy motioned with his head towards the senior parking lot. "Come on, I'll give you a lift to work."

Starfire's eyes widened at the kind offer. "Are you sure? I mean, I really do not mind taking the bus. It will be, how do you say it," she paused for a moment as she put a dainty finger to her lips and thought about it before snapping her fingers, "a good experience for me."

"I'm not meeting Donna for another hour or two, class VP, so chill out. This is a limited edition offer from Roy Harper, and believe me when I say limited edition because I normally don't do offers." He shrugged as a tight smirk curled itself on his lips. "Besides, I'm off from work today and I'm kind of bored so I gotta kill time."

"Well, if you're sure…" Starfire's tentative statement was cut short as Roy's own voice cut in, "Great! Let's go."

**

Kitten put her arms around Robin's neck in a goodbye hug at the door. They were in no way rushing their relationship and so had not even gotten to first base, and to many of their peers, they had not even left home plate. The status of their relationship was still fairly innocent as far as anyone was concerned. "Bye, Richard. Thanks for sticking around."

The ends of Robin's lips twitched upwards in a fond smile as he returned the hug. He had only meant to drop her off, but upon arrival, Kitten had persuaded him to stay for a quick snack and to just talk. He had agreed thinking it would not take any more than an hour, but upon that hour's end, he ended up staying another few hours when Kitten had popped a video into the DVD player in her home's lavishly decorated entertainment room. Of course, he could not decline her, and he really had nothing better to do so he had stayed while his girlfriend childishly poked through the things she found in his sweatshirt pocket. She tinkered with his cell phone asking who his friends were that she found on his phone list, and she had invited herself to flip through the pictures in his wallet, commenting light-heartedly about how he and Starfire must be very close for the innumerous amounts of the both of them in there blatantly argued it so. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kit," Robin called over his shoulder as he walked to his motorbike where it was parked on the curb.

Robin pulled at the sleeve of his sweatshirt to reveal his watch and sighed. The nagging guilt that his conscience had continually bombarded him with ever since he had talked to Starfire during lunch was still plaguing him, and he felt that being able to explain himself yet again would perhaps ease his discomfort. He mentally calculated the time it would take Starfire to get home. According to the time, her shift had already ended, and she'd be home in about another twenty minutes. With this in mind, he opted for the scenic route in order to pass time. If his estimation was correct, he would make it home after Starfire, and then he could immediately converse with her rather than having to wait what would become an agonizing few minutes if he arrived there before she. Pushing the visor of his helmet down over his eyes, he sped off.

Kitten stood on the doorstep of her house and waited until Robin was out of sight before rushing into her house and picking up the telephone from its cradle and dialing a number.

**

Starfire dug through her purse as the tinkling melody of her metallic pink cell-phone made contact with the receptors in her ears. Her day's photo shoot had just come to its official end, and a puzzled expression had twisted itself onto her dainty features as she realized that this was out of the ordinary for her to be receiving any phone calls. Out of the two years that she had been working as a model, she had never received a phone call in the span of time that she started work to the time she arrived home. The most plausible person that would call her at this time would be Robin, but he never called at these times unless he was not at work and knew for sure that Starfire would not be taken home by one of her friends who also worked at the modeling agency, but again, this was highly unlikely because as far as she was concerned, her friend was definitely taking her home. So when she flipped open her the communication device, she was doubly surprised to see a number that she was not familiar with, but as it was common courtesy not to just hang up and at least allow the other person to know that they had reached the wrong phone number, she answered into her receiver, "Hello."

"Hi, Kory," said the friendly feminine voice on the other end, "this is Kitten. You know, Richard's girlfriend."

At first, Starfire was not sure if she had heard right and shut her eyes tight to clear her head. She was beginning to think that her modeling career was installing fatigue into her body, and though it did, Kitten's voice that spoke up again only proved that she was still able to think clear. The young Tamaranian was just taken aback for she would have never thought that Kitten would ever call her. If for any one of her and the other Titans, Kitten should have been wasting her phone bills for her boyfriend, and more importantly, Starfire wondered how Kitten had even found out her number.

"You do remember me, don't you?" Kitten asked, slight hurt in her voice.

"I apologize," Starfire began softly after a moment of the silence of her shock, "it's just that I had not expected you to call me, and I am quite sure that I have not given you my phone number so I was just surprised."

Kitten giggled in relief. "I'm glad, but I'm sorry if my call was unexpected. I sort of stole your number from Richard's cell phone. I hope you don't mind."

Starfire shook her head and put that action into words into the receiver, simultaneously wondering why she had bothered for _her_ number of all people. It had yet to occur to her that it was most likely to Kitten's advantage to become friends with the best friend of her boyfriend. "Was there anything you wanted to ask me?"

"I know it's a little early to being asking favors," she began in confidence, "but I really care about Richard, and I really want to do something for him. He's already done so many nice things for me, and I'd like to return the favor, and I was hoping that you could tell me if he has a preference for anything."

Starfire could not help the small smile that formed itself on her bubblegum colored lips because she could only agree with Kitten's comment about Robin. From the instant that Robin offered his friendship to her, he had been nothing but extremely kind. He was the only one that could best the friendship that had formed between herself and the other Titans, and by far, that friendship was hard-knitted and extremely difficult to disunite. Her smile faltered only after she had realized that now, Robin's attention no longer belonged only to her. It was either split evenly or devoted more to this girl, who was currently waiting for an answer from her. She had never taken Robin's friendly interest in her for granted so now, it was harder to accept that she was sharing her best friend rather that if she had taken his friendship for granted. And yet it was not in her pure heart to decline an honest plea for help from a friend or a friend of her friends, and this friend just happened to be the girlfriend of her best friend, no less. So with a weak smile, she simply could not stop the words from falling from her mouth as easily as they did. "You could take him to Arson's concert tomorrow night. I believe they are playing at The Rendezvous."

Kitten gasped. "You mean Roy Harper's band? He's actually got gigs now? They always did have talent."

"Mm-hm. He gave me two of his extra tickets so if you would like to go, I could give them to you tomorrow morning so you can invite Richard."

Kitten paused and hesitantly asked Starfire if she were sure that she wanted to give the tickets to her. After all, she could surely use the tickets herself. And indeed, that had been the Tamaranian's original plan. She had been planning to ask Robin to go with her because she had not gone to any form of show with him for a while because their schedules as of late had not permitted them that luxury. Yet now, half-heartedly, she had come to the conclusion that Kitten probably needed it more than her. After all, Kitten was Robin's girlfriend and she was only his best friend. She was quite certain that she was lower in rank, and she was surprised to find out that she became upset at the prospect of being replaced and of losing the one person she's trusted the most since her first encounter with humans to a girl that he had only gotten to know for a few days. It may have been such a very selfish thought for her to want Robin to herself, but her bond to him was already deep for how can you ever hope to break a bond that has been formed from a point in your life when you had no one else to guide you and accept you for who you were.

"I was already thinking about giving them away anyway," Starfire lied. "It would be happy to give them to you. I will meet you at your locker tomorrow morning?"

"Oh, Kory! You're such a doll," Kitten said excitedly. "My locker in the east senior wing. Number two hundred and thirty six. I'll see you tomorrow okay? Bye."

Starfire flipped her cell phone closed and shoved back into her bag and wandered down the hall of the photo studio and towards the elevator to the lobby where she would have to wait another few minutes before her friend came down to give her a lift back to her apartment. Her lips dipped into a rueful smile as she regarded her decision to give her tickets to Kitten once more. Not only had she wanted to drag Robin along and now couldn't, but she would also have to tell Roy that she would not be able to make it anymore. He had personally offered it to her after he had dropped her off and was expecting her to be there. She hoped that he would not find her rude for not showing and giving the tickets to someone else who she believed needed it far more than she. For the short time that he had kept her out in front of her studio in a small conversation, Starfire found him interestingly and surprisingly witty and outgoing and, ironically, somewhat comparable to that of Robin's personality. Of course, she'd have to let him know that she couldn't make it tomorrow morning after handing the tickets over to Kitten. She really did want to go, but she would forgo her desire for the benefit of Robin's girlfriend because of her relationship to her best friend and for Robin's own happiness.

Starfire was not the type that would ever betray Robin's friendship, but she deeply hoped that he was not dismissing their friendship as easily as she was thinking, for in her mind that thought was already formulating, especially after his first refusal of her during lunch. And she could not explain why, but she felt a mixture of both misery and helplessness, something she had not felt since she had first landed on Earth after her escape from Tamaran, only in this instance, there seemed to be a pinch of something else as a catalyst to those feelings, and it was an emotional element that she was not familiar with – something that Robin had yet to teach her…

_…because it was something Robin could not teach her._

**

**Author Notes: **I apologize for the delay of this chapter. =\ I found it a little difficult to work around my main schedule so I could squeeze this chapter in, and when I did, I found the transition of delving into Starfire's feelings and emotions from Robin's to be somewhat of a problem. And I also want to express my apologies for this chapter being a complete drag as it was long. Did you notice how some of those paragraphs just wouldn't stop? o.O For some reason, I'm finding it harder to explain Starfire's predicament with few words. If you can't tell, I am disappointed in the way that this particular part has turned out. I'll try and make up for this literary mess in the following chapter. =\

I'm also aware that I've managed to insert a few other characters into this story, such as Roy Harper (Speedy) and Donna (Wonder Girl) though I'm not about to make them Titans. I've also played on Roy's later superhero alias as Arsenal, and turned his band's name into Arson. Thought it sounded kind of catchy. They'll make small appearances throughout the story though I really won't be focusing on them so much because I might digress from the original plotline of Robin x Starfire, and since I have a high tendency to digress, I'm not willing to take those chances. So if you were also expecting an equal share of the other Titans in this fic, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but they'll be around to add meat to the story, in a sense. (Kind of like in the third chapter.) On the note of Robin x Starfire, I know that there isn't any real and decent interaction between the two, but I assure you, I'll incorporate that aspect into the following chapters. It's definitely a central point in this fic, but it's just taking me a little longer than I've anticipated. =\

Also, I thought there might be some readers that may take interest in knowing that I've finally constructed the skeleton for this story. I created this fic on a whim, with the structure not fully cemented, but after running it through and outlining it, I can now tell you that you can expect this piece of literary fiction to end on the thirteenth chapter. I don't know whether you would consider that good or bad. ^^'

Oh, and please note that I have yet to re-read and do the necessary editing for this chapter, so if you see a lot of redundancy and grammatical errors, I apologize in advance. When I get around to editing and find an excessive amount of literary blunders, I'll re-upload the chapter in due time and let you know in one of my future author notes. ^^

**Starbolt1218: **Err… you're welcome? ^^ I'm only trying to acknowledge the people that took the time to read the fic and reviewed. It totally makes my day, so I'm more than willing to take the time to express my gratitude. You didn't have to be sorry for the flattery, by the way. ^^' It's just that I have such a pessimistic attitude that I don't know how to handle praise, and I get scared that I might come off as rude, which is totally not what I'm trying to get at. ^^' Anyhoo, about Kitten, if you've noticed, she isn't quite as annoying as she was in the cartoon series (at least in my opinion). So I hope she's a more tolerable person. At the moment, I have no idea how they'll break up. I just know what will cause the breakup. =] And yup, Robin and Starfire's friendship plays a big role in the story. I'm glad you find it portrayed well.

**AcrazyTeenager2005:** I wonder how many Robin x Starfire shippers there are. Did you know that there's a Robin x Starfire fanlisting? I wanted to join, but it's been on hiatus for like forever. o.O Ah well, I hope it comes back up soon. But anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing. =] I'm really happy to know that people actually like this fic. I hope that this made your day. Starfire got it semi-bad here. It'll progressively get worse as the fic gains more momentum. I don't really know if that's good or bad; all I'm concerned about is that I have enough conflict for a real story. =\

**Nightling: **Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review my fic. I hope you liked this installment. I'm not sure if the ending to this chapter is a cliffhanger though. If it is, I'll doubly try to get the fifth installment out.

**Neo Starfire:** Wow! Long review. ^___^ Thank you for taking the time to actually read this story and then to write such a lengthy review. I'm super hyped to know that you love my fic, and thank you for the Fire Bunny Award (it showed up fine in my email account, by the way, and you haven't offended me). x] I actually have a reader nice enough to present me a rabbit award. Totally made my day. ^^ As for your query concerning who likes Kitten, I'm not sure if I can answer for any of the other Teen Titans viewers. It's really a matter of opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own, but if you want mine, I found her to be quite distasteful. She was just too bratty and err… annoying. She wouldn't have been so terrible if they made her more down to earth. And I quite agree that Robin and Starfire are made for each other, though that's also just another one of my firm beliefs/opinions. I'm just not sure about making Kitten a bit** because I've actually decided what will cause them to break up, and it has nothing to do with Kitten's attitude. So I believe I can make her personality stay as it is right now. I hope that doesn't disappoint you. =\

**Ocdsugar: **Hey, I knew it sounded familiar, but I would never have guessed it came from Bugs Bunny. I haven't watched Looney Tunes in a really long time. ^^' Oh, and what do you know? Starfire was watching a run of Looney Tunes in the first chapter. Trippy? Or was that intentional? Anyhoo, thanks a lot for reviewing, and I'm really relieved to know that you didn't find it confusing as well as overjoyed that you liked the addition of the comic elements in the fic. =]

**Braveheart:** On of my more consistent reviewers, thank you for reviewing yet again. ^^ I'm glad you found it to be enjoyable yet again. If I were me (that sounds funny), and I had to read my fics, I don't think I'd get through half. As much as I'm fond of writing, I'm not a big fan of reading long paragraphs, which is actually one of my leading tendencies in writing. Quite ironic, I think. As for the portrayal of the character emotions, I'm now crossing my fingers that you're not wanting to take back your comment about the good job I did in that because I'm afraid that if I were you, I would take it back. @_@ Starfire's emotions are quite harder for me to express, which I find to be rather surprising. I thought that between Robin and Starfire, I'd be able to find it easier to write about Starfire than with Robin. Oh well. And here's the chapter where Kitten has made her appearance. I'm sorry if you found her introduction quite plain and boring and not as complex in comparison to the Titans. I'll try and incorporate more of her personality and likeness in small amounts throughout the chapter. Again, I thank you for taking the time to read and review. =]

**TheUltimateNewbie: **I'm glad to have been able to be of some service despite the fact that it was unintentional. I hadn't even realized that you had posted that on the forums or maybe I hadn't joined yet. Oh, by the way, I'm sorry for not being able to post so much. I think I've only posted about three times. =\ I'll try and hand around longer today and post more or something. On another note, about the seven or eight chapters, I'm now fairly sure that the fic will end at chapter thirteen. I was taking a guesstimate when I previously said it would be another seven or eight chapters, but after mapping out the story, I hope to finish at thirteen. And I hope that Starfire's thoughts and feelings that have been portrayed in this chapter was not a disappointment. I'm not too thrilled about it for some reason, and if I'm not too thrilled, I expect readers to be just as dejected. So if you were, by chance, dissatisfied at all, I apologize greatly. =\

**Brie:** Poor Robin and Starfire. I think I've managed to send them on what will surely become a traumatic emotional turmoil. @_@ And in regards to your question, Bruce and Diana's wedding is not due for another five chapters. ^^ Thanks for reading and reviewing.

**Sanity-Stealing-Lawn-Gnome:** Thanks for reading and reviewing. ^^ I'm glad you like this story, and I deeply hope that this chapter was not a disappointment. I'll try and get the fifth chapter updated within this week. Two weeks at the most.

**Lady Karmina: **^^' Thank you for such nice comments. Please don't interpret my short expression of gratitude as rude. It's just that being on the receiving end of praises isn't exactly one of my strong points – an aftereffect of pessimism and holding my writing ability as below average. But I digress. I wanted to let you know that I haven't really read the comics. I follow the cartoon series ritualistically, but as far as the information regarding the comic books, I've only heard that from the talk of other people and things that I read off of the net. But I was delighted that you found the merging of the cartoon series and the comic books of good taste. On that same note, you can probably guess that I don't know what happens with Terra. I'll have to look it up, but if I do allow her a guest appearance in this fic, it'll be brief, a side character as I've mentioned before. ^^ As for any new works relative to Teen Titans, I'm currently working on a one-shot that was inspired by this chapter, but I'm having a bit of difficulty in writing it since one shots aren't exactly one of my strong points. :P Anyhoo, thanks for the read and review! =] I hope you thoroughly enjoyed this chapter.

**eventidespirit:** Yep, things are definitely heating up. ^^ And it'll heat up some more. x] Well, at least I'm hoping that I can manage to get things heated up more. It'll do the plot some good, especially at the rate that it's going. :P But anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing!

Reviews, comments, flames, and other constructive/destructive criticism are welcome. =]

**Disclaimer: **I stake no claim to any of the characters from Teen Titans. They belong to Warner Brothers and whoever has legal rights to them. The only thing I have dibs on is the fic. With that said, please don't sue. You are cool. =]


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